Israel closes Gaza after bombing

Thousands of Palestinians have been barred from Israel

Israel has sealed off the Gaza Strip, after a female suicide bomber killed four Israelis at a border crossing.

An Israeli official said a "general closure" had been imposed, meaning no Palestinian labourers from Gaza would be permitted into Israel.

The Israeli army said border crossings would only be considered for humanitarian cases.

The attack at the Erez crossing marked the first time the Islamic Hamas movement has used a female bomber.

A statement from the Israeli military said: "In line with a political decision and in view of the situation, the whole of the Gaza Strip has been totally sealed off."

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The statement did not say how long the measure would last.

The move comes weeks after Israel eased a month-long closure of Gaza, allowing about 20,000 Palestinians back into Israel to work.

About 4,000 of those Palestinians work in the Erez industrial zone, a joint Israeli-Palestinian project.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Jerusalem says that despite the latest closure, most Palestinians in Gaza are prevented from entering Israel anyway, and the Gaza Strip is surrounded by the tightest security.

'Fight against terror'

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israel radio the closure was a sign of the government's determination to prevent "terrorism".

My wish was fulfilled in the manner I wanted Reem Raiyshi Bomber's last statement

"We have never let ourselves halt our struggle against terrorism, and we will carry on in order to prevent attacks like the one carried out on Wednesday," he said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei declined to condemn the bombing, saying Israeli attacks and measures against the Palestinians led "to more escalation on both sides".

The suicide bombing was carried out by Hamas member Reem Raiyshi, a mother-of-two in her early 20s, from Gaza.

Raiyshi eluded security checks by telling soldiers she had a surgical plate in her leg after she triggered metal detectors.

She blew herself up in an office when a female soldier prepared to examine her, killing four soldiers and wounding a dozen civilians.

Hamas, which jointly claimed the attack with the secular al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, said it used a woman suicide bomber for the first time to make detection more difficult.

The security zone at the Erez crossing was badly damaged in the blast and could take several days to repair.